Sunday 30 June: The Whales Say It All

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The Anangu people of Western desert language groups (Pitjantjatjara / Yankunytjatjara) are the traditional owners of the coastal lands, undulating plains and the deserts regions surrounding the Nullarbor. Wirangu occupied the land east of the Head of Bight and the Mirning clans occupied the coast west to Eucla. Kokatha, Antakarinja and Ngalea occupied lands to the north and north-east. These groups are linked through cultural affiliations and traditional practices which they still embrace.

Today is a day to let the pictures do the talking. We visited The Head of Bight Visitors Centre to look for whales, and we were so pleased with what we saw.

These are Southern Right Whales. They travel from Antartica each year and remain in residence at the Head of Bight between June and October, mating and having their calves. Spot the first calf of the season with her Mum near the end of the shots.




Southern Right Whales are 'baleen' whales which have horny plates of baleen hanging down from their upper jaws. They sieve swarms of plankton from the water through the fibrous inner hairs of the baleen plates. We think the baleen can be seen in some of the images.
  • Between May and October approximately 100 whales appear at Head of Bight
  • Whales at HoB take up 'residence' for the entire 5 month winter period
  • HoB is recognised as a calving ground & nursery of international significance for the species


 

Location: Head of Bight, Australia

Comments

  1. Jenny30 June 2024 at 22:08

    Just spectacular, I am so pleased you got to see the whales

    ReplyDelete
  2. marama1 July 2024 at 10:18

    Stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary2 July 2024 at 05:48

    The highlight so far would be the whale spotting without doubt. What a wonderful adventure you are having. Loving your blogs.

    ReplyDelete

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